Retractor



Sept. 2, 1958 J. N; RESCH 2,850,008 I RETRACTOR Filed June 10, 1 957 INl E N TOR.

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent RETRACTOR Joseph N. Resch, Chicago, 111., assignorto V. Mueller & Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of IllinoisApplication June 10, 1957, Serial No. 664,578

Claims. (Cl. 128-20) This invention relates to an improvement inretractors for holding apart the edges of wounds during surgicaloperations, and more specifically, to self-retaining retractors havinginterchangeable blades or hooks.

Interchangeable-blade retractors are frequently used in those surgicaloperations, such as abdominal operations, Where blades or hooks ofvarious lengths may be required, depending upon the thickness of thebody wall. Where the body wall is thick because of a heavy layer of fat,relatively long hooks are mounted upon the retractor arms to spread andhold apart the edges of the body wall about the incision. On the otherhand, hooks of shorter length are used where the patient is slender andthe body Wall is relatively thin.

One of the difiiculties associated with present retractors lies in thefact that the blades are generally secured to the retractor arms bythumb nuts. If, at the commencement of an operation, the surgeon findsthat hooks or blades of different lengths are required, the thumb nutsmust be unthreaded and another set of arms secured in place. Theresultant delay in the operation while the blades are being interchangedis obviously undesirable, especially where the interchange is requiredafter the incision has been made. Furthermore, the small thumb nuts maytend to loosen during the manipulation of the device, thereby creatingthe possibility of further delays and difficulties should the partsbecome detached and fall into the wound.

Therefore, one of the main objects of the present invention is toprovide a retractor with interchangeable hooks or blades which overcomesthe aforementioned defects and disadvantages of present structures.Another object is to provide a retractor having interchangeable.

or detachable hooks which may be easily and quickly mounted upon theretractor arms without necessitating the use of additional connectingparts. A still further object is to provide a self-retaining retractorhaving arms equipped with removable hooks, the hooks cooperating withthe arms to provide increased resistance to detachment in response tothe forces exerted by the separated edges of the body wall. I

Other objects will appear from the specification and drawings. Figure 1is a perspective view of a retractor embodying the present invention;Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the detachableretractor hooks; Figure 3 is an enlarged broken side view of a retractorarm with a hook, shown in section, as it is disposed for mounting uponthe arm; Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing a subsequentstep in the mounting of the arm; Figure 5 is similar to Figures 3 and 4but showing the arm in fully mounted position, the view being takenalong line 5-5 of Figure 1; and Figure 6 is a broken enlarged view of anarm and hook showing structural details thereof.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the numeral 10 generallydesignates a self-retaining retractor having a pair of arms 11 and 12and a central member 13 mounted upon a frame 14. The frame consists ofapair of parallel elongated bars or members 15 and a pair of end members16. A sleeve 17 is slidably carried by one of the longitudinallyextending bars 15 of the rectangular frame and is equipped with a screwwhich projects through the longitudinal slot of the central retractingmember 13. One end of member 13 is equipped with a curved blade or hook18 for grasping the body wall and is providedat its opposite end with asuitable handle 19 for retracting or extending that member. A wing nut20 is threaded onto the screw of sleeve 17 and may be tightened forlocking retractor member 13 in place.

As shown in Figure 1 arm 11 is rigidly secured to an end piece 16 of theframe while arm 12 is secured to a sleeve 21 which is carried by theother longitudinal member 15 of that frame. Preferably the longitudinalmember supporting arm 12 is provided with teeth 22 which are engaged bya ratchet within sleeve 21 (not shown) for holding arm 12 in a selectedposition. Since the above-described structure is entirely conventional,a more detailed description of this structure is believed unnecessaryfor the purpose of the disclosing the present invention.

Near the free end of each of the arms 11 and 12 are a pair ofhorizontally, elongated slots or openings 23 and 24 (Figure 3) whichextend in the general direction of relative arm movement. As illustratedmost clearly in Figure 3, the openings of each arm are spaced apart andare generally L-shaped; two corresponding portions or legs of theL-shaped openings being parallel and extending in the same direction,while the other two corresponding legs extend away from each other inopposite directions. The inner portions of the paired slots or openingsextend through the under surface of each arm for receiving the endportions of a spring hook 25. i

In Figure 2 it will be seen that each of the spring hooks 25 has agenerally us p d c nfigura o beingeq oped w a b p n 26 d le Y. hi h exend a a s the same general plane. The free end portions 28 of the springlegs are substantially parallel and extend outwardly away from the planeof legs 27. Each of the end portions 28 is provided with a pair ofspaced enlargements or flanges 29 which snugly engage opposite sides ofthe retractor arms 11 and 12 upon which the spring hooks are mounted.

Hooks 25 are formed of wire composed of a strong, flexible material suchas stainless steel. Similarly, the entire retractor structure may 'beformed of stainless steel or other suitable material. It is to beunderstood that the spring arms are provided in pairs of correspondingsize and shape and that a number of pairs of different sizes (i. e.difierent leg lengths) are contemplated. Thus, the pairs of hooks may beinterchanged to meet the requirements of a particular surgicaloperation.

As shown in the drawings, the spring hooks are attached to the arms bysimply urging the end portions 28 towards each other until they arealigned with the inner portions of slots 23 and 24 along the bottom ofeach retractor arm (Figure 3 The end portions are then thrust into theslots (Figure 4) and released so that the legs of the U-shaped books mayexpand outwardly in opposite directions and lock the end portions withinthe slots. Similarly, the spring books may be detached from therespective retractor arms by simply urging the end portions together andthen withdrawing them from the slots.

Since the end portions of each spring hook are normally spaced fartherthan the distance between the slots of each retractor arm, the hooksremain under tension as long as they are mounted upon the arms, therebyholding the end portions snugly within the slots. Further, it should benoted that when the spring hooks are attached the end portions 28 extendthrough the slots in the direction of relative arm movement and theflanges 29 snugly engage opposite sides of the arms. Thus, when theretractor arms 11 and 12 are separated to spread the edges of the bodywall bordering the incision the opposing forces imposed upon the pairedhooks by the wall will tend to twist end portions 28 out of horizontalalignment with the outer portions of horizontally elongated slots 23 and24 and will thereby increase the frictional contact between flanges 29and the opposite sides of the arms, and between end portions 28 and thesurfaces defining the outer portions of the slots.

While in the foregoing I have disclosed my invention in considerabledetail for purposes of illustration, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that many of these details may be varied considerablywithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a surgical retractor having a pair of arms movable towards andaway from each other, said arms each having adjacent their free ends apair of parallel slots extend ing therethrough in the direction of armmovement, said pairs of slot having inner portions opening through theunderside of each of said arms and having outer portions spaced fartherapart than said inner portions, a pair of spring hooks detachablycarried by said arms for engaging and holding apart the edges of asurgical wound, said spring hooks each having a pair of end portionsnormally spaced farther apart than the distance between the slots ofeach pair and being disposed within the outer portions of said slotsunder tension, said end portions being provided with spaced flanges forengaging opposite sides of said arms and being insertable and removablefor said slots through the inner portions thereof upon compression ofthe spring hooks.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said spring hooks are generally Ushaped and are equipped with a pair of spring legs lying alongsubstantially the same plane, said end portions of each of said hooksextending in the same direction away from the plane of said legs. v

3. In a surgical retractor having a pair of retractor arms extending insubstantially the same direction and being movable towards and away fromeach other, said arms each having adjacent their free ends a pair ofL-shaped slots having inner portions opening through one side of saidarms and outer portions extending outwardly in opposite directions, apair of spring hooks detachably carried by said arms for engaging andholding apart the edges of a surgical wound, said spring hooks eachbeing formed of spring wire and having a pair of end portions normallyspaced farther apart than the distance between the slots of each pairand being disposed within the outer portions of the slots under tension,said end portions being provided with spaced flanges frictionallyengaging opposite sides of said arms and being insertable and removablefrom said slots through the inner portions thereof upon compression ofsaid spring wire hooks.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which said spring wire hooks aregenerally U-shaped and are equipped with a pair of string legs lyingalong substantially the same plane, said end portions of each of saidhooks being formed integrally with said legs and extending in the samedirection away from the plane of said legs.

5. In a surgical retractor having at least one retractor arm, said armhaving a pair of elongated parallel slots extending therethrough, saidslots having L-shaped cross sections providing inner portions openingthrough the underside of said arm and outer portions extending outwardlyin opposite directions at substantially right angles to the direction ofarm movement, and a spring wire hook detachably carried by said arm forengaging and holding the edge of a surgical wound, said spring wire hookhaving a pair of terminal portions normally spaced farther apart thanthe distance between said pair of slots and being disposed within theouter portions of said slots under tension, said terminal portions beingprovided with spaced flanges frictionally engaging opposite sides ofsaid arm and being freely insertable and removable from said slotsthrough the inner portions thereof upon compression of said spring wirehook.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,311,313 BriX July 29, 1919 2,693,795 Grieshaber Nov. 9, 1954

